Jury Will Hear Trial Involving Gay U-M Student, Lawyer

DETROIT (WWJ/AP) – Jury selection is starting in a civil lawsuit against a former state of Michigan lawyer who is accused of stalking and defaming a gay student government president at the University of Michigan.

An attorney for Chris Armstrong said she would drop the case if ex-Assistant Attorney General Andrew Shirvell apologized. Instead, the case is going to trial Tuesday in Detroit federal court.

Armstrong’s attorney Deborah Gordon said in the complaint that Shirvell displayed a “bizarre personal obsession” with Armstrong through critical blog and Facebook posts in which he claimed Armstrong was pushing a “radical homosexual agenda.”

Shirvell, a 2002 University of Michigan graduate, was fired in by then-Attorney General Mike Cox in Nov. 2010 after the accusations.

Shirvell, who now lives in North Babylon, N.Y., said he has a right to express his belief that Armstrong is a radical activist. He said his statements were true or protected because Armstrong was a public figure

Armstrong graduated in 2011. He’s seeking more than $25,000 in damages.